bradc

Yeah I know about the Sultan's B12, nice car The tyre size thing I was talking about was actually referring to the 285/35/18's possibly being too wide for 18x9.5" wheels, but obviously they are ok as Alex is running them. There are a few E31's out there with 10.5" or wider rear wheels with 305's or wider on them, it would appear there is a ton of room under the arches. I like the design of the spokes on the Alpina's, but not the big centre cap. I quite like their design of wheel that has got 5 groups of 4 parallel spokes, those are quite nice. Ideally it'd be either M-Par's or M6 wheels, just need to find some

Ahh yep, I wasn't sure about running 285's on the back, I was thinking 275's might be the max. Send me an email so I've got your address so I can send you pics when the bumper has been done

Yes your car was the only 850CSi in Technoviolet ever And your car has virtually just been driven out of the showroom compared to mine with 148000 miles! I also like my 3 spoke steering wheel which is very rare, most of them had the big 4 spoke instead. What sized tyres are you running on your M-Par's? Penry - thanks! I've sent you a pm

It's all down to marketing really. I would argue that the Merc CLS is a sedan, it can fit 4 people in it comfortably and has 4 doors with a boot. Maybe you could coin the term sports sedan, but it isn't a coupe! Same thing with the new 8 series. As for the original 8 series, it is through and through a 2+2 pillarless coupe, you can't comfortably fit 4 people in it (unless the rear passengers have no legs below the knee) and it was designed from the start as a coupe. You could probably argue that cars like the Merc CL and Holden Monaro are 2 door sedans because they are very closely related to sedans, and can seat 4 people in them.

The bumper was a mission to get off, hopefully the panel shop does a good job of it Here is what I have as far as numbers go: CC88000 12/1992 first RHD made CC88071 06/1994 mine CC88190 06/1996 last RHD made 160 in total in RHD 153 UK spec, 3 Aus spec, 4 unknown 85 daytona violet out of all 30621 E31 (840i/Ci, 850i/Ci and 850CSi) 24 german lhd 850csi in daytona violet 1 american lhd 850csi in daytona violet - just so happens this one is with lotus white interior, I've tracked the owner down and he's a nice chap 2 rhd 850csi in daytona violet out of 153 for UK market 25th Daytona Violet 850CSi made out of 27 80 850csi with lotus white seats out of 1510 850CSi's in total Only RHD car with Lotus White seats + Daytona Violet in the world 2 others built in same colour combination, one German, one US (US one as mentioned above) Last one built in that colour scheme out of the 3 850CSi with Daytona + Lotus White 77500 pounds in 1994 times exchange rate at time of 3.0846 = NZ$239056 702000 francs in 1995 times exchange rate at time of 0.36340 = NZ$255106 192000 german marks in 1993 times exchange rate at time of 1.24290 = NZ$238637 Then you add in inflation since the 1994, and you get an approximate price of: NZ$326000 - $349000 for a UK spec 850csi in 1994

Hi, yes I 'know' you, I've seen your posts on other forums, with your 007 number plate and those stunning M-Parallel wheels. I prefer my interior though, mostly black with white leather! I'm not so keen on the purple in your car Your car is an absolute stunner. Mine has done a lot of miles and isn't in the greatest condition. I've already got the bumper off and it is going into a panel shop to be repainted. The colour of mine is Daytona Violet, 28 850CSi's had that colour, only 2 RHD's in that colour and mine was the only RHD with the Lotus White seats. There is a German spec LHD and a US spec LHD in the same colour combo too. I assume your car is equally rare in it's colour scheme? And yes I know about the wheels. I'm looking at getting some 18x8 + 18x9.5" M-Par's like your car, or possibly current model 19x8.5 + 19x9.5" BMW M6 wheels. I do like the Shooting Star wheels, but they are just too small for the car and they don't fill out the arches well enough. Feel free to email me if you want, my address is otama@ihug.co.nz Thanks!

Correction to the first post, the original 8 series was produced with a 380hp 5.6L V12 - I have one I personally quite like the CS Concept, I wonder how close the finished car will be to that. The new red picture looks quite ugly imho. Ohh and I always quite liked the tail lights on those mazda's, very ahead of their time.

it is only a matter of time before they ban them

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Motors/C...n-133678105.htm ewwww

Cool, so they are definitely 8" and 9.5" What offset are they? They should be 13 front and 25 rear

Are you sure the M-Par's are 8.5" and 8"? Most afaik are 8" and 9.5" as per this auction http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/18-8-9-5-Bm...1QQcmdZViewItem

I'm hoping an E31 will turn lots of girls heads

It's a nice car and I do like it a lot. If I had a couple of hundred thousand to spend on a car collection, that would be something I'd get

what an awesome looking car. I hope it comes with a V12

There is such as thing as a G55, it is a big 4wd similar to a land cruiser. I've seen quite a few around auckland recently. I wonder what the McLaren F1 would get, it is very light at about 1100kg, but those S70 engines aren't known for fuel efficiency! Still the best engine BMW have ever made.

Damned nice car indeed Pity the turbos and manifolds are an integrated single piece which will make upgrades hard.

Just thinking about the AMG versus BMW M thing, HSV don't sell any of their bodykits or wheels at all to anyone unless it is for an HSV car and you can prove ownership. Hence the million commodore executive v6's with 3rd party ugly HSV imitation body kits, big wheels and hsv emblems on them. The M bodykits have always been subtle though, unlike the HSV ones.

/nods, smiles, then goes out to the garage and yes, mine has a WBS chassis code, and an S70 engine

I'm in Melbourne at the moment, and it is just as bad as in Auckland, M badged cars everywhere. I even saw an X5 with them yesterday! Every second 520 or 316 has M badges on it, despite the fact that it is clearly not even remotely related to an M3 or M5. I realise there have been some cars made from the factory with M badges on them, but imho it simply cheapens the entire brand by putting M badges on everything, kind of like when people put clubsport or HSV badging on their low end POS commodores, but it does seem to be a lot more popular with BMW owners. imho if it didn't come with M badges from factory, and it isn't a WBS chassis car, it shouldn't have M badges on it, you're just kidding yourself, and everyone that knows better just laughs at you anyway

Yeah don't go with a big loud exhaust, you will look like a complete dork, especially as the gearbox changes from 1st to 2nd and everyone within 1km realises it's an auto How does it handle with the new suspension setup? Hope it goes well around corners and that motorway driving is better too.

Nice wheels, how wide are they and how wide are the tyres? I reckon that on an E36 they look best with the stock kit, all the body work painted body colour, and 35% tints. Lowering a bit won't hurt either. Doing anything else to them just looks nasty and cheap, like you're trying to rice out your civic or starlet. (imho of course)

you're welcome anytime James. Matt + Tara + Bailey will be coming out in the new year, probably on the 6th, can you come out then?

yeah I like that video. bit corny though!

It's about as different as you can possibly get in a bmw I reckon!

yeah seen that video The other cars he mentions at the end are a lot more expensive than the bmw now. Depreciation is awesome